


Wedlock

by wonkyunrs



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - After College/University, Angst, How Do I Tag, M/M, Marriage, One-Sided Attraction, Wonkyun, changkyun and wonho are best friends, kiho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-25
Updated: 2019-01-25
Packaged: 2019-10-15 19:42:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17535011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wonkyunrs/pseuds/wonkyunrs
Summary: Changkyun had been best friends with him since middle school.He had introduced him to his soon-to-be-husband.He had been in love with him since college.





	Wedlock

 

“Jooheon?” The door opened an inch and Changkyun could see Jooheon’s face appear through the crack. He observed the older’s tense posture, his necktie loose around his neck and his button up loose and he tried not to let his mind wonder the endless possibilities of how Jooheon ended up like that in the same room as one of the groom’s.

“Changkyun!” He watched as Jooheon’s forehead wrinkled and his body tense even more. “Get in here!” Changkyun didn’t have much time to question anything as the elder reached out and grabbed his arm, tugging him rather aggressively inside.

As he glanced around the room, he noticed the room was somehow in chaos. The two pictures on the left wall were slanted, a lightweight chair was fallen on it's side, dead flower petals scattered around it along with an empty bowl he assumed was from a potpourri that got knocked over. While observing the unkempt floor, his eyes landed on a familiar figure sprawled out on the floor like a rug, causing him to form a small smile. The figure was staring up at the ceiling, eyes unfocused, his tie missing, shirt untucked and completely oblivious to Changkyun’s presence.

“Hoseok,” He called out.

“Changkyun?” He scrambled to his feet, heading awkwardly towards Changkyun on unsteady feet. “Changkyun!” He said again, this time more sure of what he was saying. His arms surrounded the younger for a brief, but long moment. “Why are you here?”

“Kihy-” Jooheon was quick to cover Changkyun’s mouth before he could speak any further, making quick glances towards Hoseok, who didn’t seem to catch that. Prying Jooheon’s hand away, he ignored the very obvious memo and continued anyway. “Kihyun sent me.”  
It was almost in slow motionㅡ Hoseok’s eyes widened and his grip on Changkyun’s shoulder tightened. They could hear Jooheon murmur something behind them in exasperation but paid no attention to it. Changkyun’s brows furrowed and just as he was about to ask if the other was okay, Hoseok suddenly flung himself backwards, tumbling back to the floor where he was first founded. Changkyun stumbled the opposite direction and fell back into Jooheon, who instinctively caught him but was quick to push him away in frustration.

“Thanks,” He rolled his eyes. “I just calmed him down and you just _had_ to say the big _K_.” Changkyun offered a shrug of sympathy as Jooheon went to go pry the big baby off the carpeted floor.

“Why would he want to marry me? Oh, god. Let’s just go, right now. Jooheon, where the keys? Where’s the car? Did I even take my carㅡ fuck it, we’re walkingㅡ no, we’re runningㅡ” Changkyun had never heard Hoseok talk so fast before, never so panicked.

As soon as Jooheon managed to pull the eldest off from the floor, Hoseok already had one leg out the window as Jooheon desperately tugged on his upper half before eyeing Changkyun for help. The youngest quickly stifled his laughter and helped pull Hoseok away from the window.

Somehow, the extra strength was enough to cause the three to tumble back to the too familiar floor, Hoseok’s foot still hanging out of the window.

“Ow,” Hoseok groaned, now completely still and returning to his comatose state, eyes darting back to the ceiling once again. While the other two tried to catch their breath, Hoseok started to panic again as if something suddenly triggered him and Jooheon decided he was not here for it.

“I give up!” He raised his arms in surrender, getting up from the floor and making an attempt to adjust his nice attire. “You fix him.” He demanded, pointing towards Changkyun before storming out of the room, the door slamming behind him.

Hoseok was still under the window, but his eyes were closed and his breathing had slowed down. Changkyun walked over to him, taking Hoseok’s foot from the window and setting it next to it's pair. He let himself gracefully to the floor and pulled one knee up, letting his elbow rest on top as he leaned back against the wall under the window, watching Hoseok.

Changkyun had been best friends with him since middle school.

He had introduced him to his soon-to-be-husband.

He had been in love with him since college.

He remembers walking into his English class, scouting for the seat he sat in last time. When he spotted it, another student was already settled in it, forcing him to opt out into sitting elsewhere and mumbling curses under the kid who broke the unspoken rule of sitting where they sat last class. He found a seat next to a quiet student he’s seen a few times, sitting in a different seat which Changkyun could only assume the same thing happened to him. When Changkyun took a seat, the quiet student took notice and Changkyun silently greeted him. He doesn’t remember who started the conversation, but he learned that the quiet kid’s name was Kihyun. They sat next to each other every class slowly becoming friends as the semester went by. It wasn’t long before he introduced Kihyun to his best friend, Hoseok.

Kihyun became a nice addition to their friend group, and Changkyun was glad that one asshole kid stole his seat that one class. Kihyun started to be a part of everythingㅡ study group with Jooheon and Hyunwoo, gaming with Minhyuk, movie night with the group group. Changkyun couldn’t help but think it was because of Hoseok who made Kihyun feel welcomed, but he expected nothing less from the kindest, warm-hearted person he knew and loved.

What he didn’t expect, however, was for Hoseok to fall in love.

They’d been friends for so long, neither of them could remember the exact day or moment they had met, but it didn’t really matter. There were so many memories that filled up their friendship without itㅡ From shitty teachers, first times, breakups, and everything on the grounds of their college campus.

“Do you remember when we pulled the Christmas prank on Professor Jung?” Changkyun asked, pushing the thought of Kihyun aside.

“With the wrapping paper and stink bombs?”

“And honey.”

“I totally forgot about that,” Hoseok let out a short laugh. “He didn’t even find all of it because of the wrapping paper.”

Changkyun cracked a smile, “Where’d you even get that idea, anyway?”

“Are you kidding? That was _your_ idea!” Hoseok shook his head fervently.

Changkyun disagreed, “No way, I don’t remember it.”

“That’s because you were drunk as hell on movie night the week before.”

“Oh,” He thought about it for a second. “Wait, didn’t you spike my drink that night?

Hoseok faked a gasp, “ _Me_? I Would never,” His lies were obvious through his grin he couldn’t keep in and Changkyun shook his head again. “But…”

Changkyun raised his brows, “Hm?”

Hoseok moved back to the prank, remembering a detail, “It was my idea to spread the honey under the wrapping paper.”

They both laughed as they remembered how ridiculously sticky, smelly, and time consuming it was to wrap the whole entire room in wrapping paperㅡ but it was about to be winter break and neither of them could miss a good ol’ Christmas present to their least favorite professor.

Changkyun rolled his eyes at him, commenting, “No where was safe. We pranked ourselves. I had to throw out my favorite shoes because I couldn’t get the stick off of them and the clothes I wore smelled so bad there was no saving them.”

Hoseok laughed again, “We’re a legend on campus now.”

“Well, our prank.”

“Poor Jung.”

“He kind of had it coming.”

Hoseok let out another short laugh, “He gave us a 25 page essay _and_ he made the entire class delay their return home to clean everything up.”

Changkyun chuckled, “All because we didn’t confess.”

“I feel kind of bad,” Hoseok stated.

Changkyun gazed at him, “You were so different back then, and now you’re..”

Hoseok looked up, “Now I’m what?”

“Different,” Changkyun simply said. “Now you’re getting married and you’re responsible for another human being for the rest of your life. That’s fucking crazy.”

Hoseok let out a breath, “Yeah.”

Changkyun felt the air grow heavy, so he returned back to the previous subject, “Didn’t Hyungwon step on a stink bomb?” The two started laughing harder and Hoseok moved next to the younger. “We all smelled like sugary fart for a weekㅡ I wonder what everyone’s parents were thinking when they got home.”

“Jung was even more pissed when we ordered pizza and hired a cleaning crew,” Hoseok snorted.

“And you felt bad for making the cleaners do it, so you helped them and then everyone else felt guilty so they started helping too.” The two went quiet again, a small smiling gracing their face and then another laugh from Changkyun, “I just rememberedㅡ you made me write an apology letter to Jung!”

“Anonymously,” Hoseok added.

“He still figured it out!”

He raised his brows accusingly, “That’s your fault for having such a distinctive handwriting. And in case you forget, you threw me under the bus too.” Hoseok tried to sound angry, but he could only think of how much fun they had.

Changkyun must have had the same thought, “It was worth it.”

Hoseok raised another brow, “Running over me or the prank?”

“All of it.” Changkyun smiled, watching the other carefully, trying to work out what was happening in his mind. He waited until Hoseok let out a long breath before announcing, “I stole the keys from Jooheon.”

Hoseok choked, “You’re kidding.”

He grabbed the keys from his pocket and dangled them, “Do we need them?”

Hoseok looked at the car keys, eyes full of question and worry, but then he looked down. “I can’t.”

“Hoseok, this is forever. You have to be sure, it isn’t fair to him.”

I know. I don’t want to do that to him. I love him, Changkyunㅡ I do.” He took another deep breath. “But there’s something… Off.”

“About him?”

“No, he’s… Imperfectly perfect.” And Kihyun was. “Nevermind, it’s just a feeling. It’s fine.”

Changkyun frowned, turning to face Hoseok as he moved to a slightly more comfortable position, “Kihyun deserves more than just fine.”

Hoseok dropped his head in his hands, “I know.”

“You both deserve the world, so.. Make the right decision.”

Hoseok’s eyes were shining, a faint pink ring forming around his eyes, but he held the tears back. His emotions were going haywire, but he had no time to avoid the current conversation. In only an hour, he would be standing in front of a priest saying I do with Kihyun smiling brightly beside him.

“He sent me over here earlier, but something came up so I couldn’t see you sooner,” Changkyun’s comment made Hoseok look up. “But, he told me to give you this.” Hoseok watched Changkyun rummage through his pocket and pull out a replacement tie for his missing one. “He thought you’d need it.”

With that, Hoseok laughed as a small bead of tears fell from his face. Changkyun helped Hoseok put on the tie and somewhat adjust his suit to look more appealing before letting Hoseok figure the rest out on his own and leaving the room.

“Does he know?”

Changkyun jumped, “Holy fucking shitㅡ Jooheon! You scared the fuck out of me.” His arms were crossed as Changkyun looked up at him, his expression serious. Jooheon seemed to have fixed his clothes since he was more put together than what the younger saw earlier. “I thought you left?”

“I got worried so I stayed out here.”

Changkyun sighed, “He’s calm, happy, I hope. And I think I’m still gonna be in this suit for the next six hours.”

“Changkyun,” Jooheon didn’t laugh. Changkyun didn’t need Jooheon to continue to know what he was going to say, but he prepared himself nonetheless and took a deep breath before meeting his gaze with false confidence. “Does he know?”

“No.” He whispered, Changkyun’s front not lasting even a second as he moved to sit on the bench a few steps away. Jooheon followed.

“You need to tell him,”

“That’d be selfish, Jooheon. It’s his wedding day, look how happy they are. How happy they will be.” He gestured towards Hoseok’s door, struggling to keep his voice even.

Jooheon wouldn’t give up, “Shouldn’t he know all the options before he does this? You heard him, Kyun. Hoseok doesn’t want to marry him.”

“It’s cold feet. It’s natural, and he does want to. He loves him and vice versa. Hoseok deserves that, and so does Kihyun. You don’t understand, Jooheon. Hoseok cares for others more than he does for himself. If I told him, he would step back. He would be heartbroken, but he’d do it. That’s who he is.” Changkyun shook his head. “Hoseok would give up his happiness for me, but now I have the same chance for him. Where we’d end up together after thatㅡ I have no idea, but I don’t have the heart to do it.”

The elder stayed silent as he was thinking of a response, then he finally opened his mouth, “How long?”

He paused, thinking, “Back in college. We always went out to eat dim sum at this quiet place, not a lot of people under 70 knew about it. We were supposed to meet there one day, but he was running late. At one point, I looked outside of the window, and I’m so glad I did. It was raining heavily, which is probably why he was late, and I saw him hurrying down the sidewalk and then he fell right into a puddle. He walked in, soaked and irritated, and I was trying so hard to hold in my laughter. By the time he sat down, I managed to control myself and I gave him my jacket to help him dry off.”

Changkyun could feel his throat burn, but he ignored it and continued. “But then Hoseok smiled, and it hit me.”

“You were in love with him,” Jooheon finished.

Changkyun nodded, a sad smile appearing on his face. “Kihyun came along shortly after.” He swallowed back any tears that threatened to appear.

“There aren’t a lot of Hoseok’s in the world, Changkyun.”

“I know,” He faltered, and Jooheon looked ready to hug him, but he got up before he could take any action. “I have a, uh, message to deliver to the groom from the groom that’s currently sobbing in that room.” They forced a small laugh as Jooheon gave a comforting pat on his back, sending Changkyun off to Kihyun.

 

~*~

 

“A toast!” Changkyun spoke through the microphone, silencing the chatter amongst the room. All eyes turned to focus on him and he smiled brightly. “Before I begin, thank you all for coming to this special day.” He turned to his two best friends, Hoseok and Kihyun, and he raised his glass.

“I’ve got some things I think you should know that I’m positive Hoseok has never shown or told you,” He continued, engaging everyone’s attention. “With the help of Minhyuk who has been there just as long, and along with personal experience, we came up with a list of things we think Kihyun should know about our dear, beloved Hoseok. I’ll only read a fewㅡ some of them are best read in private.” Changkyun winked and received some chuckling from the guests and a loud groan coming from Hoseok.

“Number one: One time, in college, Hoseok was caught in the bathroom dancing to _I’m a Barbie Girl_ while brushing his teeth and… I happened to catch it on tape. I’ll email it to you all later.” He shot a smile towards Hoseok whose face was cherry red, and from Kihyun’s expression, Changkyun knew Hoseok would never hear the end of it.

“Number twenty-seven: When Hoseok eight years old, he was caught in his first fight. If you know Hoseok, he can’t ever hurt anyone even if he tried, so he held up a fake front. As his ‘opponent’ teased him and pretended to throw a fist, Hoseok’s first defense mechanism was to not shield himself or hit back, but instead, to bark.” He continued after the laughter died down. “Number eighty-two: For his birthday, we went down to the fair that was being held around the same time. We played some games, won some prizes and continued walking along and seeing what else was there. As we were walking, someone taps him on the shoulder, and when Hoseok turns around, he lets out the loudest, highest scream I have ever heard. Now that we had the attention of everyone in the area, I turned around to see a guy in a clown costume, and the clown, completely unfazed, simply offered a balloon. Trying not to cry, Hoseok took it.”

“And last but not least, one hundred,” The scene was serious, the vibe radiating through the room. “Kihyun, Hoseok will always love you too much, hold you too tight, and he will always be there for you. Besides all the bickering and fighting you two do, he will never let you down. With as much effort he puts into his friendships, he will put 100 times that effort into making you the happiest person alive.

In closing, you two have a new life in front of you. There will be unforgettable moments in between the inevitable hardships, but no matter what’s to come, you will have each other.” He raised his glass up and the room joined him. He watched as Hoseok wiped his tears not so discreetly as Kihyun put his arms around his shoulder, smiling at his new husband. They looked truly happy, and Changkyun could tell Hoseok looked more sure than he did earlier. “May you always be satisfied.”

The music and chatter resumed and Changkyun took it as his cute to step off of the stage. Hoseok’s arms wrapped around his out of the blue, but he held tight. Hoseok grinned wide, “You’re the best.”

Changkyun pulled away and laughed, “Back at you.”

 

The night flew by, the details in a blur of music, colors and alcohol. The guests had all piled outside the steps of the venue, watching as Hoseok and Kihyun climbed onto the back of the convertible car. There was cheering and flower throwing as they settled in with bright smiles and laughters.

Jooheon soon came to stand beside Changkyun in the mass of people as he watched the two wave at friends and family. “So, stink bombs, wrapping paper, and honey?”

“You heard all that?” Changkyun laughed, but his face went cold again.

He looked over at the younger, surprise in his eyes. Changkyun refused to acknowledge him, refused to break as he continued to clap as if he was on autopilot, forcing the sadness aside and being happy for them. A brilliantly fake smile spread on his face, one that lit up his eyes only halfway but it was enough to be convincing.

Soon enough, Hoseok found Changkyun in the crowd once more and had the biggest, dumbest, smile plastered on his faceㅡ the happiest Changkyun had ever seen him.

Then their eyes met, and in those three seconds, Hoseok read him better than anyone could. His smile disappeared for a moment, and his eyes widened. 

Hoseok knew.

But Changkyun kept clapping.

**Author's Note:**

> find me on:  
> [[main twt]](https://twitter.com/luvmnhyuk) | [[au twt]](https://twitter.com/wonkyunrs)


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